“The IMF received an invitation from the new Egyptian government to visit Cairo. We expect the staff mission, which will be joined by Masood Ahmed, the Fund’s director for the Middle East and Central Asia, to take place during August to resume discussions on possible financial support for a homegrown economic program. The IMF stands ready to support Egypt and work closely with the authorities.”

Political obstacles that prevented an earlier agreement with the IMF have largely dissipated, but the economy is still fragile, which is confirmed by Egypt’s call to the IMF once again to renew discussions.

From a foreign investor’s point of view, now that there is a government led jointly by the military and the Muslim Brotherhood the country is heading towards some kind of political stability. The boxes have been ticked, so to speak. And it’s a positive sign that there is consensus from both the Egyptian government and the IMF on the need to move quickly on a loan agreement. Just today, Egypt’s finance minister told Al Ahram he expects a loan to be signed before the beginning of November. Now a quick agreement has obviously been promised many times before, but the crux of the matter is that the macroeconomic situation is too fragile to wait much longer.